Skills Builder Global

This content was written by

Randal Cremer Primary School

Context

Randal Cremer is a 1.5 entry primary school in Hackney, London. We are a diverse community with a high percentage of children on Free School Meals. We also have an above national percentage of children with SEND and 70% of our children speak English as an Additional Language. We wanted our children to get involved with Skills Builder as we feel strongly that a child's life chances should not be determined by their post code. By developing the skills they need to be successful as they move through school and onto a career, we hope to show children that they have a right to be heard and be taken seriously and that these skills can be developed through hard work and practise.

Overall impact

I feel that the children and staff have benefitted from having a focus on skills that are not always academic. After the last few years, children and staff need to rediscover some of the skills that we had perhaps taken for granted in the past. I have really enjoyed teaching a Year 5 class the skills and planning activities that enable the children to demonstrate what they have learnt. We did one activity where the children had to build a human pyramid with no guidance from me as teacher. The focus was teamwork but the children confidently described different members of the team as good problem solvers, listeners and leaders.

Keep it simple

Each week there is a certificate awarded to children who have demonstrated the Skills Builder focus skill for that week. There is a display board in the hall that demonstrates the 8 key skills. The skills have been mapped onto our curriculum. Additionally, the focus for each week is also added to the class Recognition Board so that staff and pupils know what they are looking out for. Parents have received information each week about the focus for that week.

Start early, keep going

The EYFS teachers and staff also share the focus with children in Nursery and Reception. This is shared with parents and recoded on their platform. Teachers plan activities, inside and outside, where the particular skill can be a focus.

Measure it

We have observed children when they are engaged in open-ended tasks to see which of the skills they are using and how confidently. Children in Key Stage 2 have also been given the passport for particular foci and self assess against this - recording evidence when they feel they have demonstrated a particular skill. For some children with SEND, including SEMH, the inclusion tool is used both to celebrate what the children are able to do and to focus in on areas where they need more support. This has tightened up our referral system and helped us to create smarter targets for children.

Focus tightly

Skills Builder sessions are timetabled across all year groups. The Skills Builder materials are used by teachers and then adapted if necessary. The focus is also introduced in a whole school assembly at the start of the week.

Keep practising

We have begun to use the projects and challenge days across the school both to enhance learning for individual year groups or also whole school projects - for example, our science week focus was Groovy Gardeners.

Bring it to life

We plan visits and workshops that give children opportunities to experience real life situations, for example, career carousel at UBS financial services, Into University Work Shops, pollution workshops. We prepare the children for the different visits by explaining which skills we expect them to use. Children can sometimes surprise us though by coming back after the visit and sharing that they felt they used a different skill. For example, after a sports festival, one of the year 4 children explained that he had expected to be using teamwork but in fact found that instead he was using his staying positive skills.

What's next

Our next step is to ensure that the wider curriculum is better planned with opportunities to embed and consolidate the skills being taught. We also want to do some parent workshops to share what Skills Builder is and help them to understand why we feel it is important.

Greater London

United Kingdom